Henry ward johns



(No Model.)

H. W. JOHNS. Jr.

" INSULATED ELECTRIC WIRE.

No. 406,284. Patented July 2, 1889.

wi/ZW/esses- In enior WW MW Qifflmz m mans, Phulo-Lilhugraphur, wam mm i c UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY WVARD JOHNS, J E, OF NEIV YORK, N. Y.

INSULATED ELECTRIC WIRE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 406,284, dated July 2, 1889.

I Application filed January 8, 1889. Serial No. 295,753. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY YARD JOHNS, .Ir., a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Insulated Electric Wires, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in the insulation of wires for electrical conduction; and it consists in applying to the exte: rior of the wire a practically fire-proof coating or covering 'of insulating material composed, essentially, of asbestus, preferably mixed with vulcanizable substances, compressed upon or about the wire while in a plastic state, thus producing a seamless fire and water proof insulating-covering for the wire. The covering may, however, be made, essentially, of asbestus without vulcanizable substances, in which event the covering may be waterproofed in any preferred manner.

My invention may be practiced in a variety of forms, and the asbestus composition, whether vulcanizable or not, may be applied to the wires in various ways, and various mechanical appliances may be employed there-' for. These mechanical appliances, however, form no part of the present invention and need not be herein referred to.

In the drawings, the same reference-letters indicate the same parts in both the figures.

Figure 1 illustrates a wire covered with my compound. Fig. 2 illustrates a view, partly in section, of a wire covered with my C0111- pound and having an exterior covering or wrapper.

A is the wire.

13 is the covering material. It is made, essentially, of asbestus, which is first ground or crushed, whereby the fibers thereof are separated, so that it may be made into a plastic mass by the admixture with it of a suitable binding materialsuch as dissolved glue or the like. The binding material which I prefer, however, is india-rubber or other vulcanizable material mixed with sufficient sulphur to vulcanize the mass. This plastic compound is applied to the wire and pressed into intimate contact therewith by the employment of any suitable mechanical appliances and allowed to dry. The resulting product will be a wire covered with a continuous coating of seamless and firmly-compressed asbestos, which is in'close contact with the wire,- thus securing fire-proof qualities; and if indiarubber has been used as the binding material, which, as stated, I prefer, then the covering may be vulcanized, which will constitute it fire-proof and water-proof, and also greatly add to the permanency, elasticity, and element-resisting qualities of the covering.

0, Fig. 2, is an exterior covering or protecting-layer of strips, of any preferred material, wrapped about the covering of plastic material, whereby it will be further protected from abrasion and other damaging influences incident to use.

The asbestus and india-rubber compound or its equivalent has mixed with it, for the purpose of giving bulk with reduced cost and also for covering the coating, such foreign substances as lamp -black, soapstone, chinaeither separately or together. Some of these bodiessuch as soapstone, plumbago, &c. are especially advantageous in the compound, because they add to the plasticity of the mass, facilitate the manipulation thereof, and prevent undesirable adhesion during the operation of coating the wire.

In the use of the word seamless herein, and in the claims hereof, I mean seamless as that term is ordinarily used, but not that there shall be no joints in the covering material, because it may be applied to the wire in the same manner that lead is sometimes deposited in the manufacture of lead pipe or other plastic materials are deposited in tubular or like form.

Having described my invention, I claim- 1. A wire for conducting electricity, having a practically seamless insulating covering made, essentially, of asbestus mechanically mixed with the foreign bodies herein set forth, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

clay, whiting, plumbago, and the like bodies,

2. A Wire for 00nd noting electricity,having" York and State of. New York, this 7th (lay of a practically seamless insnlatingcovering January, A. D. 1889. made, essentially, of vulcanized asbestus 1ne- T Y w l A D .l Ill? ehmneally nnxed with the foreign bodies LARK R O Tx 5 herein set forth, substantially as and for the \Vitnesses:

purposes set forth. PHILLIPS ABBOTT, Signed at New Y0rk,in the county of New EWELL A. DICK. 

